Improvement in the methods of transferring grain



L). SAFELY.

Methods of Transferring Grain, 61u.,V` in Transitu.

No.150,894. u Patented May12,1s74.

le l

Il ll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. SAFELY, OF OTTUMWA, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE METHODS OF TRANSFERRING GRAIN. 35C., INTRANSITU.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,894., dated May 12,1874; application iiled i April 14,1874.

Tohu 'whom t'may concern:

Be it known that I, JN0. J. SAFELY, of Ottumwa, in the county of Vapelloand State of Iowa, have invented a new and improved means and method fortransferring grain and other material from one car to another and fromcars into vessels; and that the followin g is an exact and fulldescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention is intended to effect and facilitate the transfer of grainand other material, as coal, lime, salt, gravel, and the like from onecar to another, or from a car to a vessel,

in such a manner that one or more cars may be unloadedand loaded at thesame time at a great saving of time, labor, and expense over thatusually incurred by the ordinary elevators and otherwise, or that theunloaded grain from a car or cars may be stored in the transferringelevated bins. The essential feature of my invention, however, consistsin the method by which grain is ,transferred from a loaded car, or trainof cars, to an empty car or train, or into track-bins for storage, saidmethod being the construction of an elevated railway track or tracksdirectly over a base track or tracks, and the employment below theelevated track or tracks of bins open at their tops, and provided withsliding gates at their bottoms, and running the loaded car or cars by aninclined track or tracks upon the elevated track or tracks over thereceiving bins or conduits, wherein the grain or other material isemptied from the loaded car or train, from which bins or conduits thegrain or the like is discharged into an empty car or train of carsstanding in position upon the lower track or tracks and ready to moveoff with the material thus transferred from the elevated car or cars,each car being provided with inlet-top openings to receive the grain orthe like, and outlet-bottom openings for the discharge-of the same, saidopenings being suitably guarded with doors `and slides to be opened andclosed, as required, and these being the only requirements to convertthe ordinary freight-cars into cars adapted to carry out mynew method.In this way an entire train can be unloaded of grain or the like intoanother train which may be ready, or into the elevated bins for storageuntil a train is ready to carry the material oli'. The dischargingspoutsof the elevatedbins may be provided with hose to lead to rthereceiving-openings of the lower train, so as to render it unnecessaryfor the receiving-openings to be at any time 4 directly under thebin-tubes.

By this method of transfer an entire train may be unloaded into anothertrain in a very short time and at comparatively little expense,dispensing altogether with the ponderous and expensive machinery ofelevators now used for the purpose, and avoiding the enormous expenseincident thereto; for my elevated bins not only serve to transfer, butto store the material in readiness to be transferred. The elevatedtrack-bins must, of course, be covered in by a roof to protect thestored grain from the weather. Vessels may, in like manner, be lleddirectly from 'loaded cars by means of chutes leading from the bins tothe vessels. I have shown trough-boards hinged to the inner sides andends of each car, so as to be let ,down to contract the bottom of thecar to facilitate the discharge of the grain or material therefrom, andto be turned up and fastened, or removed in usinglthe cars for othertraffic. These trough-boards, however, are not obsolutely necessary, asthe grain remaining on the flat bottoms can be shoveled to the centeropenings to get it all out.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of car-tracks and binsembracing the method of transferring grain or other material. Fig. 2 isg a bottom view of one car. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section ofthe same. Fig. 4 is a plan of the elevated track, showing the combinedbins and railway.

Openings in the bottom of the car are represented at a, one in thecenter and one in each end thereof, about equally distant from eachother and in line in the middle of the car with a pipe, b, extendingbelow the bed of the car. c represents the slides or valves to open andclose the mouth of the pipe. d, doors that can be shut or thrown back atwill, to open or close the openings a. When wheat or like material isloaded in bulk, the doors d are thrown back and shut when loaded withmaterial not to be unloaded through the pipes. The slides or valves care operated with one bar, e, and

lever f, and open andshut at one and the same time, as shown in Fig. '2.When the valves are shut the lever j' is locked in place, and can onlybe released with a key. This is to prevent the slides from beingmaliciously opened. On the top of the car there are other openings, g,with doors to admit the grain or other material from above, as shown inFig. 1. The

loaded car or cars being run upon an elevated railway, h, the empty caror ears being beneath on a lower track and ou the same vertical andlongitudinal line, the lever or levers f being unlocked, and the valvesc ofthe upper car or cars opened with one motion of the bar, the wheator other material is discharged into bins 0J or conduits beneath theelevated track h under the loaded car and above the unloaded car orears. '.lhe bins are represented in Figs. l and 4. In this method oftransfer the valves c of the lower cars must be closed, as shown in Fig.l. The grain or other material in the bins z' is discharged into thecars beneath by a similar method to that of unloading the upper-carsinto the bins beneath, thus transferringgrain or other material from onecar to another without the ordinary delay.

This construction forms the means for a complete 'and immediate transferof grain or like `material from one car or train of cars to another, oryfrom cars to vesse1s,'as may be de sired. Any number of elevated trackswith bins for holding the material may be used for ul'lloadingcars andfor storing grain, and the whole may be covered by asuitable root'.

J are boards hinged tothe inner sides of the cars, to be let down toform a troughed bottom -for'grain and the like, and lto be turned and-fasten,ed-or removed, to use the cars for ordinary trailic.

Cars have been adapted to carry grain by means of detachable sections toform a hopper-shaped loor in connection with a spout through which thegrain is discharged; and removable bottoms have been employed and turnedup against the sides of the car when used for grain with the hoppersunderneath, serving as an extra bottom, from which the grain isfremoved5 and slide-valves haveI been used to open and close the bottom outlets,in connection with top openings, for the ingress of the grain; but noneof these plans involved a system of transfer with elevated track-bins,in which one or a series of cars to be unloaded are employed with a caror a series of cars to `be loaded with the track-bins arranged betweenthe elevated and base track ears.

What I claim isl. An elevated bin or conduit, in combination with anelevated railroad-track, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A bin having a discharge-opening and a device for closing the sam e,placed beneath and combined with a railroad-track, as and lfor thepurpose set forth.

material from a loaded car or train of cars into elevated track-binsvfor storage, or from or through said track-bins or conduits fortrailsportation, substantially as set forth.

JNO. J. SAFELY.

Witnesses:

'lnoMAs C. CoNNoLLY, HENRY H. BARTON.

